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In 2012, when Adreinne Waheed asked herself what she was most drawn
to as a photographer, the answer came easily. “I love the energy, creativity,
resilience, beauty and brilliance of black people,” she tells PDNedu. From
this love, a six-year project was born. Titled Black Joy and Resistance, it
features candid portraits of black and brown people at social and political
events around the world, including the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn,
the 2015 Million Man March in Washington, D.C., the Salvador Carnival in
Brazil, and the #feesmustfall student protest in South Africa, among others.

This past year, Waheed self-published the series in a book
that was released in January.

A photographer since she
was 13, Waheed received a
degree in communications
from Howard University in

1994 and began working as
a photo editor at Essence in

1999. Over the years, she
has shot images for The New
York Times, The FADER and
Scholastic, and contributed
as a photo editor to Vibe, King

and Field & Stream. Recently,
she helped to assemble

Prince: A Tribute to his RoyalBadness and Black Womenin Hollywood: A Salute to Trailblazers at the Oscars,two photo books published by Essence. She’s alsocontributed images to an issue of the biannual journal

MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora that
featured over 100 black female photographers. She
believes that her experience as a professional in the
industry made self-publishing Black Joy and Resistance relatively easy. (She
funded the production of the book with her savings.) She hired colleagues to
copy edit and design the book, and other professional contacts—including
Jamel Shabazz—contributed writing.

Black people have historically been excluded from conversations about
beauty, and instead, Waheed adds, their images are usually relegated to
negative racial stereotypes. When shooting for Black Joy and Resistance,
Waheed was intentional about focusing not only on transmuting ineffable
moments of elation, but also in capturing images that were a form of
protest. “In a world where the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ is a controversial
statement, I focus on our basic right to the pursuit of happiness,” she says.

The photographs were primarily shot with a Nikon D750 body and
NIKKOR 50mm and 28mm F-mount lenses. They are beautiful and saturated
with color, but they’re also strong and brave. The garb of protest and the
garb of celebration worn by Waheed’s subjects are uncannily similar. An
intentional stare is just as passionate as a kiss in the midst of a parade.

In the upcoming year, Waheed hopes to bring her message of
empowerment to audiences around the world in the form of talks and
exhibitions. “I would like to focus on spreading as much black joy as
possible!” she says. EDU

by BRIENNE WALSH

Adreinne Waheed’s
series overrides negative
stereotypes about the
black community.